Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: The Promise
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10 Lepim.
A mana cannon with that kind of output was an absurd weapon, typically used as a tactical weapon by nations.
For a mere private research facility to be equipped with such a weapon was highly unusual.
It was the product of a political compromise, born from the special circumstances of Lorraine's Scottvin family, the pretext of conducting research exclusively in the remote corners of the continent, and the entangled investments and interests of several nations.
Because it was such a weapon, Lorraine was somewhat confident.
Even if that thing was a monster from mythology…!
‘There’s no way it can walk away from this unscathed!’
A mana shell, enhanced through channeling by five mages and the genius Lorraine herself, was discharged with an output of 10 Lepim.
*KWWAAAAANG!*
It was as if a blue horizon had unfolded before their eyes.
The moment the mana cannon struck its target, a brilliant blue flash dyed the world.
“A hit! It’s a direct hit!”
The researchers in the firing section cheered.
Lorraine wiped away her sweat and let out a sigh.
Her tone, a little softer than before, served to rouse the researchers once more.
“A monster of that magnitude won’t go down in one shot! Loading team! Prepare to channel for the next shell!”
“Yes! Preparing to channel!”
Though they immediately began preparing for the next attack without rest, everyone felt a small sense of relief.
‘That’s right! No matter what kind of monster it is…!’
‘This is 10 Lepim! If we really let loose, we could vaporize a small city in a day!’
Witnessing the heaven-rending majesty of the mana cannon with their own eyes, they were reminded of the power they possessed.
Even a monster from the age of myths, against this pinnacle of magitech that we have built…!
*Fshhh-*
The blue light that had colored their vision scattered, and the scenery beyond slowly came into view.
However.
“No way!”
“It… survived that?!”
The central head, their original target, was completely unharmed. Instead, the head immediately to its right had taken the damage.
It had absorbed the mana cannon’s blast with its entire body. Parts of its long, ashen form were hideously torn, and something like gray smoke billowed from the wounds.
But,
*“KIEEEEEEEK!”*
‘It’ was still moving vigorously.
As if such wounds were nothing more than a scratch.
“Spatial distortion confirmed! That one is the culprit causing the spatial distortion!”
A researcher in charge of observation shouted.
“That bastard!”
Lorraine bit her lip.
Her calculations had been perfect. She had found a trajectory that would strike the central head precisely, even accounting for the curvature of space.
But the head causing the spatial distortion had ruined it.
It hadn't just blocked the attack with its body; it had momentarily shuffled the surrounding space like a puzzle, refracting the mana cannon’s blast in all directions.
Of course, it hadn't managed to deflect everything and had sustained an injury, but it was far from a fatal blow.
The moment their trusted attack failed, everyone felt as if they’d been struck in the back of the head with a sledgehammer. A gloomy atmosphere seized their soaring morale and slammed it to the ground.
Lorraine stomped her foot on the floor and shouted.
She couldn't afford to be anxious. She couldn't let the atmosphere suffocate them.
“As of this moment, that head is designated ‘Distortion’! We will eliminate it first! Hurry up with the loading!”
“Yes, ma’am! Channeling is 40% complete! Reheating the mana spring!”
“Don’t panic! If one shot doesn’t work, we’ll hit it three times, five times. We just have to keep pounding it!”
But the monster called an ‘Apostle’ didn't just stand there and take it.
This time, the head on the far left moved.
It stretched its long neck and opened its mouth wide toward the research facility.
A gray beam of light gathered within its maw,
———!!
Staining even the sunlight an ashen gray, a colossal beam shot forth.
It was a gray beam of light, even larger than the 10-Lepim mana cannon.
It descended upon the research facility without a sound.
Did it devour even sound?
Watching the gray tsunami wash over them in silence, Lorraine screamed.
“Shields to maximum output!”
“Sh-Shields to maximum output!”
A deep blue magical barrier enveloped the entire facility.
*SWAAAAA-*
Like a raging torrent, the gray beam crashed against the shield and split to the sides.
Strangely, there was no vibration whatsoever… but the researchers watching the scene were all seized by terror.
“Impossible… The shield is…”
“It’s crumbling…? A shield drawn from a Dragon-class mana spring?”
The Lorraine Research Facility’s arsenal wasn't limited to the 10-Lepim mana cannon.
If they had a battery with such an absurd output, it was only natural that they also had a power source to support it and a mechanism to absorb the recoil.
That was the mana spring.
The source of power that supplied the entire massive facility and absorbed the magical backlash.
A Dragon-class mana spring was on the scale of what would support a military mobile fortress, a large airship, or a small city.
The one in this facility was a C-type, which boasted respectable performance even among its class.
And the shield drawn from such a mana spring was crumbling before their very eyes.
*Fshhh-*
As the shield scattered into blue particles, streams of the gray beam pierced through.
Most were deflected and fell far away, but a few grazed the facility’s exterior.
*Fshhh-*
Where the gray beam touched, the outer section of the facility seemed to melt, to crumble away into nothingness.
Even the sturdy armor that would only be slightly dented by the charge of a giant monster!
“An-Annihilation!”
“Confirmed… existence erasure! That wasn't disintegration, it was literally deleted! Completely, from this world!”
The researchers in the observation section screamed.
The others, being researchers themselves, understood the words immediately.
“Annihilation? Is such a thing… even… possible?”
“That defies the laws of physics! Observation! Are you sure about your readings?!”
The chaos began anew.
This time, even Lorraine was momentarily stunned.
‘The shield? In one hit…? Annihilation…?’
It was unimaginable.
A shield that could withstand a fearsome dragon’s breath three or four times…
What in the world was that thing?
‘No. I have to get a grip. If I lose my nerve…’
*Screech-!*
Just as she steeled herself to berate the researchers again.
She heard a door open and instinctively turned around.
It was an act born of pure instinct.
Not just her, but every researcher turned their gaze toward the door.
*Gulp.*
Throats bobbed with tension.
An immense, ferocious presence enveloped the entire command and control room like a shadow.
*Thud.*
*Thud.*
A man stepped through the suffocating silence, one step at a time.
Lansen Vanroah.
Clad in magic armor adorned with various shades of black, he approached with an atmosphere so tense it felt like it could explode, and opened his mouth.
“Lorraine.”
The moment she felt the strange resonance in his voice, Lorraine’s body stiffened like a block of wood.
As if someone had seized her in a tight grip.
***
My mind was a chaotic mess, ravaged by the lingering will of a dragon.
[Let go! Let go! No! I don’t want to! Die! Please! Just die!]
I found myself wondering.
Just how did this dragon die?
To have left behind such a lingering will?
What was clamoring now was the lingering will of a dragon already dead and gone.
Literally, a single strand of thought, left behind and abandoned.
There was no communicating with it. Only the rage, despair, and terror the dragon had felt at that time echoed back at me.
[Please! Just die!]
“Just… shut… up…!”
I finally managed to seize the leash of the lingering will rampaging in my head and press it down.
[Aaaargh! No! Noooo!]
Only then did I regain control of my body.
*Crrrack!*
It was a complete disaster.
The Iron Heart aura and the magic armor’s aura clashed inside and outside my body. Internally, bruises formed everywhere; externally, my skin swelled and burst, leaving me covered in blood.
It was close to the worst-case scenario, but I was fortunate to have come to my senses before it was too late.
“Hooooo-”
I organized my thoughts.
I had donned the dragon’s magic armor to gain power, but one wrong move and I’d become a cripple, let alone be able to fight.
Even now, the two auras were clashing and exploding with enough force to shatter my body.
How could I control the collision of these two auras?
Of course, if I were to cast off the armor right now, everything would be fine, but that option was off the table from the start.
Without this, I could ‘never’ defeat the Apostle. So, come what may, I had to borrow the power of this magic armor.
But how?
Amidst my tangled thoughts, knowledge that Balseon had taught me in my childhood surfaced.
‘Lansen. When you don’t know what to do, try the process of elimination. Think about what you shouldn’t do. Start there and cross things off one by one. As you do, what you should do will sometimes reveal itself.’
It must have been part of his lessons on statecraft.
Balseon, who tried his best to teach me even one more thing, despite not knowing much himself.
That sentiment became the key for me now.
‘First, what not to do.’
My thoughts cleared.
‘Suppress the rampaging magic armor’s aura?’
Eliminated.
An absurd idea. The armor’s aura overwhelmed my own in both quantity and power.
If I tried to suppress the armor’s aura with my Iron Heart aura, mine would be the one to break.
‘Just endure it and press on?’
Also eliminated.
Pain could be endured, but this was too dangerous. More importantly, what could I even do at the end of that path? In a state where I couldn’t even control my aura… how was I supposed to fight?
Besides, if I kept leaking aura in streams like this, the Apostle would spot and crush me before I even got close.
As I eliminated the options that came to mind one by one, only one remained.
A crazy idea, but the only way.
‘Replace it.’
The aura flowing through my body. I would temporarily replace my power source, from the Iron Heart to the magic armor’s aura.
‘I’ll have the Iron Heart aura retreat completely, to protect only my core organs like my aura core and heart. Instead, I’ll accept the magic armor’s aura into my body and operate with it.’
The insane idea of circulating an unfamiliar and ferocious aura within my own body. My entire being would probably be torn to shreds.
But this was the only way.
The only way to contain and control the rampaging mana.
‘My only hope is the durability and regenerative power of my transformed body… and my own mana control.’
The moment I made up my mind, I acted.
*Rumble-*
My whole body shook as if struck by an earthquake.
I shoved the immense aura emanating from the magic armor into my body, strand by strand. I shoved it in and circulated it. Applying the principles of Iron Heart, I circulated it again and again, somehow bringing it under my control.
*Crack! Crrrack!*
Something inside my body repeatedly broke and regenerated.
But it was working. I could do this.
[Die! Kill me! Please! Kill them all!!!]
The dragon’s lingering will threw a fit.
But it was fine. A lingering will was just that. It wasn't a soul. The magic armor’s aura would prioritize my will, which possessed a soul.
Of course, it would be different when I tried to draw this power out again, compared to when I took it in.
Like a burst dam, the aura would pour out. With an uncontrollable force.
But for a moment, just for a brief moment, I felt I could control it.
That was enough.
That was all I needed.
*Thud.*
I walked.
Carefully, as if one wrong step would cause the aura to spill out.
I walked, step by step, to the central seminar room where Lorraine was.
And I finally faced her.
Before I went to slay the Apostle, there was something I had to tell her.
“Lorraine.”
For some reason, a strange resonance clung to my voice, but that wasn't important right now.
To the strangely stiff Lorraine, I made a request.
“Hold on. Hold on until the very end. And I will slay the Apostle.”
Lorraine’s eyes widened slightly.
“This is a promise.”
No, it's a vow.
The moment I had that thought,
the strange resonance imbued my voice once more.
Strength flared in Lorraine’s eyes, which had seemed vacant just a moment ago.
She said.
“Alright. I’ll hold on… until the end. Believing that you will slay it, I’ll hold on until the very, very end.”
The first time she and I had spoken to each other so informally.
The will and trust contained within her words were firm enough to reassure me.
“I’m counting on you.”
I turned my back.
From now on, there would be no looking back.
*Thud.*
One step.
*Thud.*
Another step.
I would only move forward, to slay the Apostle.